The present disclosure herein relates to an apparatus and method for controlling a droplet, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for freely controlling movement, stop, and mixing of a droplet.
A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology has advantages in that chemical synthesis and analysis processes are performed in one chip by using a small amount of sample to improve efficiency and accuracy. Thus, the LOC technology is in the spotlight as a technology that is suitable for next-generation fields such as nano-bio technologies and nano-bio medical technologies. To manufacture an LOC, technologies for manufacturing a microstructure and microfluidic adjusting and droplet control technologies for inducing and adjusting reaction of a sample with a reagent in the manufactured microstructure are required.
Existing representative fluidic adjusting technologies have been studied by a method in which a fluid continuously flows through a microchannel constituted by a micropump, a valve, and a mixer. However, the development speed of the fluidic adjusting technologies is slowed down due to fundamental limitations such as a complex mechanism, a limited flow rate, and a limitation of reconfigurability in the fluidic adjusting technologies. As an alternative method, an open LOC based on a droplet control technology which is capable of quantifying and controlling a much smaller amount of sample and inducing rapid reaction is being magnified as a new measure.
So far, the droplet control technology is based on a method electrowetting, a method using dielectricphoresis, a method using magnetic force, a light-induced actuation method, and the like. However, since external stimulation is required for controlling a droplet, the sample may be damaged, and also, the degree of freedom of the control may be deteriorated due to the complex system. In addition, the sample may be contaminated and damaged. Thus, a new droplet control technology that is applicable to fields such as medicine and biotechnology by minimizing the stimulation and contamination, which cause the damage of the sample, is needed.